Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Too Much To Write, Too Little Time

I didn't grow up wanting to be a writer. Hell no. The first thing I can remember wanting to be was an astronaut. I wanted to fly around looking for new planets, and maybe even go on a smuggling run with Han Solo and Chewbacca. Later, when I was old enough to think playing guitar was the coolest thing you could do, I wanted to be a rock star. I went off to college wanting to be a doctor, then a newspaper reporter, then a teacher, and then a scientist. I decided to go to film school, and that's where I first discovered I really like writing, but I didn't look at writing as a career. Screw that! I was gonna direct big-ass monster movies. Um... That hasn't really panned out, either.

After drifting for a long while, I rediscovered my love for writing and decided that whatever my future was, it had to include writing in one form or another. Ideally, I'd like to get published and get paid to write novels for the rest of my life. But that's about as likely as Batman becoming a pacifist. Still, just cuz I ain't getting paid big bucks, that doesn't mean I shouldn't keep at it. Besides, I looks at it as a way to prolong my life.

See, I have a long list of projects I want to complete before I kick the bucket. And as long as I still have stuff on that list, I figure I should at least try to take care of myself so I can write all that stuff. What's on the list? Well...

A Music Album - I've dreaming about recording my own music ever since I was a little shit running around with a piece of molding pretend to be a member of Alvin & the Chipmunks. That desire only intensified as I learned to play guitar. I've been slowly pulling together songs over the past few years. I've got about 60 tunes now, in various stages of completion. Someday, I'd like to put em on wax. Nothing professional, just something for me to listen to. And something for me to prove to myself and others that I can actually do it.

A Musical Screenplay - I actually had an idea for a musical movie that I thought was pretty cool. I even started writing it, but I hit a snag and haven't, as yet, finished the first draft. Maybe someday...

A Detective Story - I'm a big fan of film noir and I always thought it would be fun to write something in that style. I'd need to do a lot of planning and pre-production to pull something like that. That's the problem. I don't really like to plan when I write.

A Western - My dad likes westerns, and I think it might be kinda cool to write something he might enjoy reading. Cuz, Lord knows, he wouldn't be able to tolerate what I usually write.

A Time Travel Story - Because time travel is bad ass.

A Story About Kids Making A Movie - I was inspired when I saw Super 8, at least the awesome half of that movie that was about movie-making teenagers. (The rest of that movie kinda sucked ass.) But it would be fun to do a story about a bunch of people trying to tackle the herculean task of making a movie. Cuz even a small movie is a ton of work.

A Ghost Story - Knowing me, it would probably end up coming off like an episode of Scooby-Doo in space. What's wrong with that?

A Children's Story - I've had a few ideas that I kinda like. Plus, I'd like to see if I could pull it off. And it would be a big challenge for me to get through a story without using a ton of profanity.

A Memoir Based On My Friends And I Back In The Day - I've actually been dreaming about this project since before I knew I wanted to be a writer. I just can't figure out how to do it in a way that's cohesive and says something that I wanna say. But it would give me a great excuse to listen to all that lame-ass music I loved back in the day. (Not that I need an excuse...)

So, as you can see, there's a lot spinning around in my head. That doesn't count all the movie ideas I'd love to get shot or the myriad of smaller projects I've been kicking around. So, that gives me an excuse to stick around for awhile. I guess that means it's time to stop chowing down on cheeseburgers and hit the exercise bike. Cuz I got lots to do.